The grid in Istanbul, and for the rest of season, will consist of twenty drivers, as Super Aguri announced their immediate withdrawal from the sport.

Super Aguri have been struggling for funds all season and it’s looked bleak since the proposed takeover by the Magma group broke down last month.

Team founder Aguri Suzuki said: “The loss of financial backing put the team into financial difficulties. With the help of Honda, we somehow managed to keep the team going, but we find it difficult to establish a way to continue the activities in the future.”

It now means Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson are without a drive, and they need another team to take them on as test drivers.

It makes you wonder if there’s too much money in Formula 1 thesedays. Will we see twenty cars again next season, or will another team try their arm?

Ferrari scored their second 1-2 finish in a row, as Kimi Raikkonen secured victory in Spain to increase his lead at the top of the Championship to nine points. Not only that, the result promoted Ferrari above BMW in the Constructors Championship

The race started off with yet another first-lap incident for Sebastien Vettel, as he collided with Adrian Sutil (pic, bottom left). Fernando Alonso couldn’t hold on to second place, as he was quickly overtaken by Felipe Massa. Despite some impressive showings over the weekend, neither Renault managed to finish. Nelson Piquet collided with Sebastien Bourdais in the early stages and both drivers were out (pic, bottom right). Local hero Fernando Alonso also failed to finish in Barcelona for the first time in his career – his Renault gave up the ghost at the half way point. (pic, top right)

Lewis Hamilton rounded off the podium and picked up six championship points, but only one McLaren finished, as Heikki Kovalainen was taken to hospital following a high-speed crash. (pic, top left). Heikki had a failure of the left front tyre while travelling at around 140mph, and ploughed straight into the barrier. Heikki was described as “stable and conscious”, but taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

Robert Kubica picked up BMW’s points, as Nick Heidfeld could only manage ninth. Nick had made a pit stop while the pit lane was closed, following Kovalainen’s crash, and had to make a ten-second penalty.

Mark Webber drove well in the Red Bull to collect fifth place, but probably the happiest team were Honda, who collected their first points of the season, courtesy of Jenson Button.

Nico Rosberg fell foul of engine trouble in his Williams; the first Williams retirement this season. Team mate Kazuki Nakajima got his second set of points of the season.

McLaren need to get their ideas together in Istanbul in two weeks, to stop the Ferrari train escaping completely.

Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time in the second Friday Practice session. The Renault pair of Nelson Piquet and Fernando Alonso provided the big performance with the second and third fastest times. The big surprise was Williams’ driver Kazuki Nakajima who managed to secure fourth fastest. McLaren were disappointing, and both cars were outpaced by both Force India cars. Heikki pulled off the track with a technical fault after setting his lap time.

Red Bull driver Mark Webber has said Max Mosley has dragged the sport into disrepute following the nazi sex scandal on Toro Bloggo, reported at the end of March.

Webber has slammed the FIA President, saying: “Whether we like it or not, all of us in F1 are role models, and F1 simply cannot have scandals of this type.”

And you know what? Webber is absolutely spot on. These people are ambassadors for the great sport of motor racing, from the drivers, to the pit crew, to the tea lady. As Webber himself says, Mosley is “in a very, very influential position.” Mosley’s future will be decided on June 3, following an Extraordinary General Meeting, and Webber would not comment on whether Mosley should resign or not.

This story looks set to trundle on, and it looks like it’ll do what Spygate did last year… it could overshadow a very exciting season, and as a result, turn people away from the sport. That’s the real disaster.

Sebastien Bourdais must have been told to test his top speed during testing in Spain – as the Frenchman threw his brand new Toro Rosso into the wall.

Toro Rosso were expected to launch STR3 at the Turkish Grand Prix, but in his first outing, Bourdais went “too fast”, according to team officials. Mechanical failure has been ruled out, but the main concern for Toro Rosso is that the new STR3 will not be ready for the planned launch date in Turkey.

Before the crash, the new Toro Rosso set the eighth fastest time at the Circuit de Catalunya. The car looks to be a step up from STR2B, but we might not see it in Turkey.

Back on March 10th, Toro Bloggo announced that Super Aguri were being taken over by the Magma Group.

However, the financial backers behind Magma – Dubai International Capital – are having second thoughts, and have pulled out of the proposed take over. A statement by the team said: “It is with deep regret that Aguri Suzuki is now forced to consider the future of the team.”

The team will not be testing in Barcelona this week, and a team spokesperson said they may not even have the money to compete in the Spanish Grand Prix. It throws back the doubts Super Aguri had at the start of the season about taking part. As it stands, it’s looking bleaker by the minute that Super Aguri will not reach the end of the season.

The Honda F1 team have signed up a 16-year-old junior karter to their team on a long-term “driver support agreement”.

Will Stevens is one of the world’s leading karters, picking up four Championship titles in the last year, including the European Championship and the International Open Masters.

Stevens will continue to race through the ranks of junior motorsport, while Honda train him to become a Formula One driver at a later date. The training is similar to what Lewis Hamilton underwent at McLaren before his full-time contract began in 2007.

Will Stevens has commented on the matter, saying he is “extremely proud to be joining Honda”.

“This provides me with a great opportunity to progress my career towards my goal of reaching Formula One. I intend to do my very best to ensure that their [Honda’s] belief in me is rewarded.”